Thinking About Ethical Consumption and the Food we Eat

When we are thinking about the major contributors to global warming and climate change due to carbon gas emissions, for many of us are first thought is to that of the cars we drive and the bigger businesses pumping these greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Yet another major factor to consider is our food choices and the product consumption that we use to feed ourselves and our families. Livestock businesses alone has proven to constitute a third of the amount of these toxic gasses emitted, and by altering how we think about our grocery shopping lists and our farming practices we can do much in the way of reducing our carbon footprints.

Our habits when it comes to what we eat can significantly help the work to cut back carbon and this can be done on a number of different fronts. Firstly, shipping is the major contributor as to why the food industry is so pollutant and by choosing to purchase locally we can reduce these negative effects. There is much work that is being done in the way of urban agriculture and being that those living in cities may find it much harder to purchase locally than someone living in a rural area, there needs to be a wider support for this development. By rethinking where we are getting our food from we can make big cuts, but then we also need to think about the food wastes we are creating. If you've ever gone to a restaurant, not finished your meal, and then left, that food was then most likely sent to the dump. The same thing goes for at home when you are ridding your fridge or cupboards of things you aren't going to eat. But if there were more compost sites to take this food waste instead of the land fills we could make big strides in more ethical consumption.

Then when it comes to the meat industry it needs to be a more conscious effort to cut back on the amount of animal products we are purchasing. Again this doesn't have to be a sort of all or nothing thing, but even omitting meat for three quarters of your meals will be a big help. Each kilogram of beef that is used creates a waste of 36 kilos of carbon gas emissions; and along with that the rain forests and other land that is destroyed to feed and house these animals only adds more harm to the environment. Other reasons for clearing out the rain forests are to plant and grow palms for palm oil that is then sold. These areas not only are removing precious natural reserves but the peat moss that is upset during the plantation further releases mass amounts of carbon gas, as much as two billion tons.

So along with reducing meat product consumption we need to find replacements for items such as palm oil that are also contributing factors to toxic emissions. Both sunflower oil and rapeseed oil can step in for palm oil and they don't have the same detrimental environmental effects. It really is surprising just how much our food is playing a role in the whole climate change issue. It can be difficult finding what products are following a more ethical model and those that aren't, and there are resources you can turn to online to get the information you need to be a better shopper.

Some guidelines that you can follow are to find items, especially produce, that are fresh, locally produced, and as unprocessed as possible. You can then be certain that they didn't travel far to reach your store and then table. Then when you do have leftovers, get creative. You can find plenty of ways to use up what your kitchen holds and online you can find recipes that include virtually any ingredients. The same goes for what's in your pantry and with a few staples like vegetables, couscous, and rice you can dine a little greener and cheaper too. Finally, you can help the movement for more ethical consumption by recycling that food just as any other product and start a compost pile. When it comes to reducing our carbon footprint we need to think of the task on numerous fronts and support all avenues. Amending the ways to produce and obtain our food is yet another key to unlocking the problems facing our environment today.